GERTRUDE E. MERRITT

A graveside service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday at Willow Dale Cemetery of Goldsboro.

Miss Merritt graduated from the former Duke Women's College in 1931, having worked her way through the university with jobs at the library. She was student government president her senior year and, upon graduation with an AB in history, joined the technical services branch of the library.

Over the next 43 years in technical services and acquisitions, she helped build the university libraries' collection to more than a million items before her retirement in 1974. She was the oldest member of Altrusa International of Durham, having served for more than 40 years.

She was the daughter of Nereus Hall Merritt and Annie Gertrude Elder Merritt of Sampson County and was preceded in death by three brothers.

Surviving are two nieces, Carolyn Miller of Hickory and Barbara Thornton of Tulsa, Okla., and a nephew, Davis Merritt, of Wichita, Kan.

Memorials in her name may be sent to Duke University Libraries Development Office, P.O. Box 90197, Durham, 27708.